Christie’s Wine Expert Broadbent Becomes Opera Hero: Interview

Michael Broadbent, wine critic and former head of Christie's wine auctions, at a tasting. Broadbent's writings have been turned into an opera, ``The Lovely Ladies" by Peter Cowdrey and Hamish Robinson. Source Christie's via Bloomberg

May 17 (Bloomberg) -- The connection between champagne,
fine wine and opera usually takes place in the bar during
intermission. Now a new relationship has blossomed.

At the Christie’s International auction house in Mayfair,
London, the life of wine critic and auctioneer Michael
Broadbent has become an opera. The wines do the singing.

Composer Peter Cowdrey and librettist Hamish Robinson’s
comic divertissement about Broadbent, “The Lovely Ladies,”
took place on May 12. I spoke to Broadbent, the former head of
Christie’s wine department, about what it felt like to become
an operatic hero.

We meet at Christie’s, the day before the opera’s
premiere. The 83-year-old Broadbent, dapper in a tailored blue
suit, has the cheerful manner of a natural bon vivant.

What’s it like being turned into an opera, I wonder?
“It’s the most unlikely thing on earth,” he bursts out with
a laugh.

The opera begins with a rumor that Broadbent might be
forsaking the world of wine. Various great wines, including
Champagne, Bordeaux and Chateau d’Yquem then compete among
themselves to lure the great taster back into the fold.

The performance proved the work to be a light, charming
45-minute piece dripping with musical allusions to Handel and
Purcell. The singers included top-drawer performers such as
countertenor Michael Chance and the baritone Richard Suart.

‘Crazy Idea’

How did it come about? “The head of Christie’s in
Scotland, Sebastian Thewes, came up with a crazy idea to base
an opera on my wine writings,” Broadbent says. “I thought it
sounded far-fetched and forgot about it. He found a composer,
and then suddenly I discovered it was being produced.”

The tickets for the gala event cost 185 pounds ($270),
with proceeds going to the charity Maggie’s Cancer Caring
Centres. Clara Weatherall, one of the event’s organizers, told
me that the evening was sold out, and raised 50,000 pounds.

At the reception after the piece, I find Broadbent
beaming with pleasure, and he declares the opera delightful.

Why is there such a strong connection between opera and
wine, I ask. “Opera is civilized, and champagne is
civilized,” he says. “I’m all in favor of civilized drinks.
As opposed to those great globs of red wine girls drink in
wine bars.”

He relates an anecdote about not just the civilizing
effects of wine, but its health-giving properties. “I was at
the deathbed of the great wine writer Andre Simon,” Broadbent
says. “He was 93. He had a good complexion and the most
astonishing memory. He put down his longevity to a half bottle
of champagne every morning.”

Broadbent, who looks pretty good himself, says that he
keeps his own champagne next to the milk in the refrigerator.
He tops up his morning orange juice with it. “It gives it a
lift,” he says with a smile.

Overblown Market

Has he seen many changes in wine auctions since he began
them in 1966? “It’s got overblown. In the early days, a
bottle of Chateau Lafite was just four times more expensive
than an ordinary Bordeaux rouge. Now it’s unaffordable. The
attitude toward speculation has distorted the whole market.”

Isn’t that his fault? He himself began wine auctions,
after all. “Good question,” he says. “We started so
innocently. At first, the wines were bought by doctors and
lawyers and middle-class professionals who wanted to drink
them. Now I feel sad if I see a wine coming back on the market
to be sold.”

Does he have any tips? Any favorite wines? “I’m a
Bordeaux man. And though Lafite has been priced out of the
market, there are still plenty of good smaller chateaux.”

Is the rumor in the opera true? Is he retiring? “In the
libretto, the wine authority George Saintsbury appears as a
deus ex machina from the past to say that I am not retiring,
and he reassures the wines,” Broadbent says. “He’s
absolutely right. Wine’s in my blood. You won’t be able to get
rid of me.”